ARTICLES ABOUT BLUE LINE BY DATE - PAGE 5

The city unveiled plans Thursday for the largest modernization of the CTA Blue Line since the O'Hare branch was built 30 years ago, a four-year overhaul that officials say will shave 10 minutes off travel between downtown and the nation's second-busiest airport. But things are going to get slower before they get faster. The $492 million track and station rehabilitation project beginning in the middle of next year will mean rolling delays for the more than 80,000 weekday commuters who board at stations on the branch as well as visitors who ride the train into the city after landing at O'Hare, transit officials said.

It began innocently enough. The pictures show a woman clad in black riding a CTA Blue Line on the way to O'Hare International Airport on Nov. 1. Then they show something odd being held in her hand: a 2-foot-long alligator. CTA officials believe that same alligator ended up at the airport and was found hiding under an escalator in the lower level of Terminal 3, police have said. The unexpected trespasser, since dubbed O'Hare and Allie, was transferred to the care of the Chicago Herpetological Society.

The Sports Xchange Flyers' Coburn scores winner after earlier mistake PHILADELPHIA -- Braydon Coburn made up for a blunder with a big shot. Coburn scored the tiebreaking goal 3:33 into the third period to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night. Back on the ice following a season-high six-day break, the Flyers (2-7-0) snapped a four-game losing streak. Matt Read also scored for Philadelphia, and goaltender Steve Mason made 30 saves.

Jets 4, Blues 3 (SO): Olli Jokinen scored his 301st career goal in the first period before netting the winning tally in the seventh round of the shootout as host Winnipeg overcame a two-goal, third-period deficit to stun St. Louis. After posting a 3-2 victory over Chicago in a shootout on Thursday, the Blues jumped out to a good start as T.J. Oshie and Winnipeg native Alex Steen scored in the bonus format, while Jets captain Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little answered in the second and third rounds.

Three 15-year-old boys face robbery charges after they used toy guns to hold up a woman and a 14-year-old girl in the O'Hare neighborhood Thursday night, police said. The three boys were arrested at or near the Cumberland Blue Line station a within about 15 minutes of the robberies, which took place just after 7 p.m. Thursday, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien. Police had to chase one of them onto the CTA right-of-way to catch him, causing a brief shutdown of Blue Line service.

Late goals send Canadiens past Jackets MONTREAL -- Two late goals from Tomas Plekanec allowed the Montreal Canadiens to take back two points they nearly let go. Plekanec scored the winning goal with just over a minute to play and added an empty-netter with less than 30 seconds left to give the Canadiens a 5-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night at the Bell Centre. His first goal, a no-look shot from just inside the blue line with a Blue Jackets defenseman in front of him, caught Sergei Bobrovsky off-guard.

Bruins 3, Blue Jackets 1: Loui Eriksson recorded his first goal with his new team to snap a tie 49 seconds into the third period as visiting Boston rebounded from its lone loss of the season. Chris Kelly scored late in the second period and Milan Lucic secured the victory with an empty-net tally for the Bruins, who were blanked by Colorado on Thursday. Tuukka Rask turned aside 26 shots - including a point-blank bid by Marian Gaborik late in the third - as Boston won its fourth straight versus the Blue Jackets and improved to 5-1-2 all-time in Columbus.

Before some Chicago Marathon runners reach the starting line, they have to navigate the lines at the CTA station at O'Hare International Airport. Travelers at O'Hare taking the "L" into town had to wait in long lines for fare cards Friday as the CTA continues its transition to Ventra, its new fare payment system. Two days before the Chicago Marathon, which attracted 45,000 runners and an estimated 1.7 million spectators last year, is typically one of the busiest days of the year at the O'Hare Blue Line station.